Hip To My Heart
by MarshmallowAtHeart
Summary: AU. Pre-series. Veronica discovers that she has feelings for one of her best friends, Logan Echolls. With hopes to dim her new found attraction to him, she begins to subtly avoid him. But he notices. And he's not happy about it. LoVe. One-Shot.


**A.N This is came to me while I was writing _Pass Me A Note_. But this completely stands on it's on. Title is inspired by The Band Perry song of the same name because I didn't know what to call this. **

* * *

Her eyes widened when she saw him hanging onto the tree for his life. Her heart pounded against her chest. What if he fell? What if he died? She edged toward the rail of the balcony and frantically told him not to let go. He gulped and tightened his grasp on the branch, he might have been drunk enough to play Tarzan and climb the damned tree but no way was he drunk enough to bungee jump off the tree with no rope.

Veronica's felt her palms sweat. What was she going to do? There's no way she could lift his body weight. She swallowed and ran down to get a ladder from the garage. She wished her father were here because even though they'll get in trouble she wouldn't be nearly this afraid of Logan falling from that damned tree and getting hurt.

Why did he have to be so stupid? Why was he drunk at this part of the night? Why was he here of all places?

She tried to carry the ladder but it was too damned heavy. Probably heavier than Logan. Stupid long-legged metal piece of crap.

She gulped and silently prayed for Logan to hang on a bit longer. It took her half a minute to run next door and call for her new neighbour Wallace Fennel.

His eyes widened at her panicked state. "Logan's stuck in the tree," she panted with wide fearful eyes. Wallace would have laughed if she didn't look like so scared.

"What's he doing on a tree at 3AM?" Wallace asked as they jogged to her house.

"I don't know! I didn't get much of a chance to chit chat when he was dangling so high above ground."

When they reached her room, Logan was already seated on her bed. She gawked at him. "How did you..."

He shrugged. "It's not like it's hard." He frowned when he saw Wallace. "What are you doing in Ronnie's bedroom at," he glanced at the clock, "3:07 AM?"

Wallace cocked an eyebrow at him, about to ask him the same question but Veronica blew out a frustrated breath and smacked Logan's shoulder. "You're such a jackass, Logan! I was so scared that you'd get hurt. What possessed you to climb a tree?"

Logan pouted. "I wanted to see you."

Wallace shook his head. They dragged him out of bed for their will-they-won't-they drama? "Well," Wallace interrupted their intense gaze contest. "I don't see any damsels in distress so I'm off ."

Veronica smiled apologetically when she walked him to the door. "I really did think he'd fall and die. Thank you so much Wallace."

He smiled and brushed away her concerns. "No problem, Vee. Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any snickerdoodles lying around would you?"

She chuckled. "You mean after you ate the batch I made this morning? No. But you'll see some in the near future. For being such an accommodating white knight to Logan."

Wallace laughed. "See ya."

Veronica waved him off and locked the doors. When she returned to her room, Logan was fast asleep.

She sighed. What was the protocol here? She couldn't toss him out off her bed because for one, she physically couldn't and two, he looked really calm and peaceful when he was asleep. Not to mention cute.

She bit her lip. She really shouldn't climb into bed with him. Her parents were away for a romantic get away for the weekend. They'd wanted to send her to her aunt's house in Palm Springs but she really didn't mind staying alone, in fact she preferred it. She had told them that she'd stay at Lilly's but Lilly and Duncan were gone to Napa for the weekend. She hadn't exactly known that little fact when she'd suggested it to her parents.

She should go and sleep in their room or in the guest room but she didn't want to leave him alone. There must be a reason he came to see her. He'd said he'd missed her.

Her tummy fluttered at that thought. He missed her.

She sank onto the bed and rested her head on the pillow next to Logan. He really did look cute asleep. Not that he didn't look cute when he was awake but now she could appreciate it more without him opening his mouth and making her feel flushed.

He murmured in his sleep and her cheeks heated. Was he awake? She shut her eyes and when she heard him lightly snore moments later she opened hers and let out a breath.

She'd never been with a boy in her room like this. Well, she'd had boys in her room. Duncan, Wallace and said boy that was snoring in her bed.

But none of them were there when it was this late or well, this early.

And none of them stayed over.

And none of them made her feel this heart-racing-tummy-twirling-palms-sweating kinda feeling.

She closed her eyes, the adrenaline rush from before died down and all she wanted was to sleep.

* * *

When she awoke the next morning, her risk-taking friend was still asleep. She'd used the opportunity to clean around the house, bake cookies, shower and get started on her homework.

"Hey," she gave him a small smile as he moved to sit upright. She put down her workbook and handed him a glass of water and Advil.

He looked at her with his groggy eyed and mused hair and mumbled, "Thanks." She bit her lip and he murmured, "I'm just gonna... bathroom."

She nodded and let out a breath when he exited her room. How did he look so good when he'd literally just got up and was spotting a hangover? There was something unnatural about him. In a good way. But definitely unnatural.

She left him a set of her father's clothes that had grown much to tight for wear but her father had kept it to preserve the illusion that he was once cool. And she went out to the lounge.

About half an hour later, he came down the stairs and she bit back the chuckle that threatened to erupt from her throat at the sight of him in her father's clothes. He rolled his eyes and settled on the couch next to her.

"So," she started once he began to flicker through the TV channels. "Last night, on a scale of coming up with a blank to fuzzy with a dash of in between moments, how much do you remember?"

He squinted and answered, "Uh, the first one?"

"Huh." She tilted her head as she looked at him. "Do you remember _why_ you got so face-smashed drunk?"

He turned to face her and mimicked her head tilt. "For funsies?"

She gave him an unamused look. "You climbed up the tree and you almost died."

A laugh escaped his lips. "Veronica, your house is two stories high. I could jump of the roof and I wouldn't die. Break a few bones, sure. Die? Not so much."

She frowned at his callous tone. "It's not funny, Logan. You really scared me. I don't want you to get hurt and your late night activities lean more to the 'Logan's hurt' category. And that's not OK with me."

His expression softened and he whispered, "You worry too much, Ronnie."

Her eyes brimmed with concern and she tightly let out, "I have to since you obviously don't worry enough about what happens to you."

"Look, it's the weekend. We were just having some fun. You know fun? Something that you're adamant on avoiding."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Just because I don't get drunk with you guys doesn't mean I don't have fun."

"I'm not talking about getting drunk," his voice soft with a tinge of dejection. "I'm talking about hanging out. We don't _hang out anymore_."

"Yes, we do," she argued.

"Not without Lilly. Or Duncan. And I thought I was just imagining it at first. But you're _avoiding_ me."

She frowned and huffed, "No, I'm _not_."

"Yes, you are. Your parents are out of town and you could have come and hung out with me, Veronica. _But you didn't._ You could have called me to come over and hang out with you like we used to, Veronica. _But you didn't_. You could have just messaged me or just talked to me, Veronica. _But you didn't_." He sucked in a breath, a moment passed and he looked at her with an anguished expression and achingly asked, "When did we stop being friends?"

They stared at each other with tear filled eyes and aching hearts.

Finally, she gathered her will to speak. "We are friends, Logan."

"Don't do that," he whispered with a pain filled voice. "Don't brush it away like I didn't have a point. You _know_ that everything I said is true. You _know_ that you've been avoiding me. Goddammit Veronica," he let out frustratedly.

"Hey Superfl... Oh." Wallace stopped when he sensed the tense atmosphere and saw their pained expressions.

Veronica looked at Wallace and relief flooded through her. "Hey Wallace. I made you some cookies as promised. I'm just gonna go to the bathroom."

He nodded at her as she hurried off. He turned his attention to the boy on the couch that was trying to keep his composure.

"Was that about last night?" Wallace quizzed, assuming that the tension in the room was caused because of last night's events, he said, "Logan, man, you really need to understand that she really was terrified of you getting hurt."

Logan's brows furrowed, he looked at Wallace and asked, "What were you doing here last night?"

"She called me to help pull you off the tree," he provided the bits that Logan clearly couldn't remember. "She was freaking out."

Just then, Veronica walked back into the lounge. She took in a breath but before she could say anything, Wallace asked, "Yo, Vee, can I have these to go?"

She resisted the urge to tell him _'no, don't go'_ but it'd only prove Logan's point. She gave him a soft smile and nodded, "Sure, Wallace."

Wallace beamed and munched on the cookie as he let himself out.

Veronica shifted awkwardly and asked, "Uhm, do you wanna eat something Logan?"

"No," his eyes followed her every movement. She swallowed, her gaze fixated on him as he stood up and moved toward her. "I want you to talk to me. You used to tell me everything and now I'm basically begging you to talk to me."

She chewed on the inside of the lip and let out, "Logan."

"Don't do that," he whimpered. "Don't say my name like that and think I'm gonna drop whatever it is that I'm thinking of doing. It's not gonna work this time."

Her eyes bore into his and once again she whispered, "Logan."

He slightly shook his head and murmured, "Stop. It."

Her heart tugged in her chest. "What do you want me to say?"

"Tell me what you feel," he pleaded. He took her hands in his. "Be honest with me. Like you always have."

She shook her head, her words tight in her throat. "You don't want to hear it."

"Yes, I do," he insisted. His eyes soft, concerned and reassuring all at the same time. "I always do."

"You really don't," she breathed out.

"Don't tell me what I want, Veronica."

"You don't what you're asking. You _never_ know."

"I'm asking for you to tell me what's going on with you because I can't _bear_ it if we graduated and you become one of those people that I used to know. And come our ten year reunion and I'm asking you to catch me up," he blew out a breath and his voice softened, "I don't wanna catch up. I wanna be there."

She wasn't sure if it was his voice, his words, his close proximity or the warm feel of his hand on her hers. Maybe it was everything. It was everything that was simply _Logan_. But that's the moment she kissed him. Right on his lips. And for a moment he'd frozen in shock. She couldn't believe that she;d done _that_. She shook her head and moved to walk away.

And that's when he snapped from his shock and reeled her into him. He kissed her full on the mouth. The deep passionate kiss that makes your heart race and your insides feel like it's in the process of combustion.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close and his hands are on her waists and they just fit in each others arms like they were meant to be.

When they pulled apart, they stared into each others eyes. Neither wanting to let go. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face and cupped her cheek. She sucked in a breath, he dipped his head down and gave her a softer, slower kiss. They rested their foreheads against each other.

"So that's why I've been avoiding you," she whispered.

He let out an airy laugh. "Next time you wanna kiss me, please go ahead."

Her brows creased and her smile faded. Concerned, he asked, "Veronica?"

She tried to pull back from him but his hands held her firmly in place. She bit her lip and admitted, "It wasn't just the kiss, Logan. I have more than non-platonic feelings for you. And look it'll go away. I just need to not be around you for awhile."

His eyes widened, she'd completely taken that the wrong way. He hurriedly reassured her, "No. I don't want them to go away. I wasn't blowing you off, Veronica." He rested his forehead against hers and confessed, "I want this. _You. Us._ I just never thought you'd feel the same."

She gaped at him. "Are you kidding? How can someone not like you?"

A chuckle passed his lips. "I've been told that I'm a jackass."

"Yeah," she conceded as she pressed her lips onto his. When they broke apart, she smiled against his smile and acknowledged, "But you have your moments. And they're _really_ good moments."

He chuckled and he really hoped that they could have many, many good moments together. A lop sided smile settled on his lips and as he laid one on her again. _Why not start now?_


End file.
